


To Activate, Enter Your PIN

by velannacousland



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Discrimination, M/M, Mild Language
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-17
Updated: 2013-06-23
Packaged: 2017-12-15 07:17:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/846819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/velannacousland/pseuds/velannacousland
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is a story about two boys attending Hogwarts and beyond. This story is about two boys who struggle to find their own identity, one being the son of The Boy Who Lived and the other the son of a former Death Eater. This is a story about love, loss, and learning.</p>
<p>The character death does not apply to Scorpius or Albus</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy was born on Friday, January 13, 2006. Ever since then, Draco never believed the Friday the 13th myth because, in his own words, "nothing this good could come on such a bad day." In contrast, on January 1, 2007, his wife Astoria had died from an aggressive form of spattergroit. It took a couple years for Draco to heal from this, because "how could such a bad thing happen on such a hopeful day?"

Draco Malfoy, however, had a son to raise and he was determined to be the father his father never was. He instilled good morals onto Scorpius, never once uttered a word pertaining to blood purity, and taught him how to say words such as please, thank you, no ma'am and yes sir. Having a child sometimes changes a person, and having Scorpius made Draco Malfoy do a complete 180 from how he used to be. Draco only brought Scorpius around to his mother and father's house during Lucius and Narcissa's birthdays for fear of them influencing his son.

Scorpius was a fairly easy child to raise. He was a quiet child, hardly ever throwing a tantrum and hated to yell. He liked to observe people, see how they tick and assessing the situation before speaking. Draco was eternally grateful for this, being a single father and really no idea on how to raise an unruly child.

The day Scorpius received his Hogwarts letter, he ran yelling to his father, Hogwarts letter in his raised fist being waved around. Draco picked him up, swung him around, and promptly declared that they were going to Diagon Alley _that exact moment_ to celebrate. The first place they went was to Fortescue's for ice cream, and that was the very first time he met Albus Severus. 

Draco and Scorpius were at their table, laughing at the gummy bears dancing on top of a mountain of fudge and ice cream piled onto Scorpius's plate when the legs of their table disappeared. The top of the table clashed onto the floor and ice cream flew everywhere, covering Draco and Scorpius.

A young boy ran up to the table, waving his arms and exclaiming "I'm sorry! My brother was being a complete _git_ and was making fun of me so I tried to hex him with this spell I saw my Uncle George do on one of our neighbors after they hexed my Uncle Percy only I guess I got the wording wrong and the spell went _right past him_ and hit your table and..." The black-haired boy was interrupted by Harry Potter putting his hand on the younger boy's shoulders.

"Sorry Malfoy." Harry said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "Sometimes my sons don't know when to quit."

Draco, who had been staring at the younger boy, wondering how he could fit all those words in one breath, jerked his attention to Harry, replying "Huh? Oh, yeah, uh, sure." 

Harry, Draco, and two of the shop attendants fixed the table and cleaned up the ice cream. Harry had apologized several more times to both Draco and the shop attendants, and escorted both of his sons out the door.

"Well, Scorp, with all of that excitement out of the way, let's go get your robes."

\--------------------

"You make sure you write me." Draco said

"I will."

"Especially right after the sorting. Don't keep me in suspense okay?"

"Okay Dad." Scorpius said nervously. "But, what if I don't get into Slytherin?" Draco smiled and got on one knee to be at eye level with Scorpius.

"Listen, son." He said, putting his hand on Scorpius's shoulder. "No matter what house you get into, I will be very proud of you. Each house has it's strengths, and I will root for whatever house you are in. Don't you worry, okay?" 

Scorpius sniffed a little and looked around. "Even Hufflepuff?" He asked quietly.

"Especially Hufflepuff." Draco answered, kissing Scorpius on his forehead "Now, let's get you on the train."

Scorpius found a compartment in the middle of the train that was completely empty, and put his trunk and opened the door to Bones's cage. Bones was a Burrowing Owl that Draco had purchased as a going away present. Scorpius was extremely nervous as to who he might share a compartment with. He only prayed that whoever it was wasn't mean, or hate him just because he was Lucius Malfoy's grandson. Scorpius rarely had people harass him over that, but when he was, it never amounted to anything serious.

Who did walk in, though, were both boys responsible for the Ice Cream Incident at Fortescue's. 

They didn't notice Scorpius at first because at that moment, they were fighting.

"Leave me ALONE!" The younger boy screeched."And STOP FOLLOWING ME! Go with your friends, hang out with your fans! I hate you!"

"Don't worry little bro." The older boy laughed, ruffling the other's hair "I'm just making sure you find your way around okay. I'll leave you alone, but if you have any problems, you come get me."

The younger boy looked irritated at that, stomping his foot and insisting "Just GET OUT!". The older boy laughed, closed the door and walked away. The boy flung himself onto the seat, crossed his arms and stated "I hate him."

"As you've said." Scorpius said.

"He's just so annoying! He always follows me, he's extremely nosy, and..." The boy's eyes then widened in recognition. "Merlin! You're the boy from Fortescue's! Look, I am still really sorry. James and I were grounded the rest of the summer _and_ we had our broomsticks taken away. Which of course was more tragic for James, but it made the rest of the summer _booooring_!

"It's okay." Scorpius replied "S'not a big deal. We got clean afterwards."

"Yah, but it still sucked. Of course it was all James's fault."

"How so?" Scorpius questioned.

"Because, I got this new owl and I named it Iggy, like Ignotus Peverell and he was calling it things like "Icky" and "Uggie" and other such stuff and told me that I was stupid for naming my owl Iggie." The boy huffed, then exclaimed "I never told you my name! It's Albus, but you can call me Al."

 

\-----------------------

The rest of the train ride was composed of stories and eating candy. They took turns daring each other to eat suspicious looking Bertie-Bott's Beans, and guessing what their life at Hogwarts was going to be like. Conversation then turned to what house they may be in. Albus was scared of getting sorted into Slytherin and Scorpius was scared of being sorted into any other house but Slytherin. Both boys agreed they should be sorted into Gryffindor, because they believed they were extremely brave for facing these possibilities.

\-----------------------

_Dear Dad_

_I arrived at Hogwarts. It's amazing! Better than the stories you've told me. I met Albus on the train. He's really nice, just likes to talk a lot and usually in one long sentence. It's nice, cuz he talks a lot and I don't talk that much. He doesn't seem to mind._

_Me and Albus were sorted into Hufflepuff. I hope what you said at King's Cross was right, and that you're not mad at me cuz I'm in Hufflepuff. But it is nice to have someone I already know and that is nice to me._

_The feast had tons of food and I met the Fat Friar. He flew through me and it was cold! Tomorrow starts classes. I have Potions first thing in the morning, followed by Transfiguration, and then in the afternoon I have Charms then Astronomy at night. I'll write to you probably tomorrow to tell you how my first day went._

_Love_

_Scorpius_

\-------------------

Having Potions that early in the morning was awful. However, Scorpius and Albus both agreed that any subject that early in the morning was awful.

They claimed a table at the very back of the room, sharing the table with two Ravenclaw girls who were glaring at Albus, who was falling asleep. He was jerked awake when a large crash echoed through out the room when one row of books in a very large bookshelf flew out and scattered across the room.

"Mr. Finnegan," Professor Hepclaw called out "Put your wand away before you hurt yourself, or even worse, any of my stuff!"

The class, who had been extremely nervous, stared a little bit then started laughing. Colin Finnegan looked around sheepishly. "Sorry!" He said, "I got excited."

"I can tell." Professor Hepclaw responded. He then picked up what seemed to be eyeballs and asked "Can anyone tell me what this is and what it's primary purpose in potions are?"

The rest of the class was uneventful. They took some notes and learned to categorize certain ingredients. Well, to be fair, Scorpius took notes while Albus doodled. At the end of class, while walking to Transfiguration, Albus turned to Scorpius and asked "Hey, during lunch can I borrow your notes?"

"Why didn't you just take some of your own?"

"Because we were doing nothing and I got bored and I just had to do something to keep me from falling asleep. Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease Scorpius I'll make it up to you I promise! I'll even take extra extra good notes in Transfig!" Albus pleaded, doing his best impression of a puppy dog.

"Nah, I'd rather cash that favor in at a different time. Transfiguration sounds rather easy." Scorpius said dismissively.

Only it really wasn't and at the end of the lesson, he couldn't get his paperclip to look even remotely like a thumbtack while Albus's was nice and pointy. Albus smiled smugly and said "Want to rethink my proposition?"

\-------------------------------

In Albus's words, that was the start to their beautiful friendship. Scorpius helped Albus with Potions, Albus helped Scorpius with Transfiguration, they declared that they both were helpless in History of Magic, and their favorite class was Defense Against the Dark Arts. 

\-------------------------------

_Dear Scorpius,_

_I am happy to hear that you are enjoying your time at Hogwarts. I hope that everything goes well at school, and that nothing bad happens, like what happened while I was there._

_I also received an owl from Professor Richards pertaining to an incident during lunch. It seems that you are the suspect in a case of someone's hair being transfigured into snakes. I have gathered from your letters that Albus is exceptional in Transfiguration, you not so much. I also got from another reliable source that the victim was none other than James Potter. Now, I know that you hold no ill will towards Mr. Potter, but that certain spell has you written all over it, seeing how your cousin Amelia loves that particular hex. Care to share?_

_Love always, Dad_

For the record, Scorpius really did give Albus that hex, and Albus was the one who hexed James, but he totally had it coming. That particular hex was in retaliation for a prank that involved watermelons and Peeves. This particular prank war might have started during the second day of school, when Albus got the idea from Scorpius to hex James's black hair sparkly purple. Albus said that it was in retaliation for James transfiguring Albus's broomstick into a snake when Albus got on it over the summer. No one really knows what actually started the prank war, just that Albus has been eternally grateful for Scorpius, because he knew so many awesome hexes it was _scary_.

\----------------------------

Scorpius was eight years old when he first realized the impact the name "Malfoy" could have. He was in his 4th primary school of his life, sitting outside the Director's office, while Draco spoke to the director. Scorpius had just gotten into a fight with another child who said that his father was weak because he didn't stand up to Voldemort, which mean that Scorpius was weak too. The child didn't expect Scorpius to punch him, much less how hard he hit him. 

What the director didn't realize is that the walls of this particular primary school were thin, so Scorpius could hear everything that was being said in the room.

"I understand it wasn't Scorpius's fault Mr. Malfoy, however these incidents are becoming rather frequent. I'm afraid we don't really have any choice."

"But you yourself said it wasn't Scorpius's fault. How can you punish a child for something that isn't his fault?"

"The fact of the matter is, is that I have received many complaints about your child attending here. This certainly isn't going to go well with the parents and the people who fund this school, but I simply can not allow Scorpius to attend here."

Scorpius didn't hear the rest of the conversation because he was too busy trying not to cry. That attempt failed, and by the time both of them arrived back at their house, Scorpius had cried himself sick.

"Why Daddy, what did she mean about people not wanting me to go to school? It's not fair!" Scorpius wailed. Draco bent down and hugged his son tightly.

"I'm not going to go into detail, but know this: I have made many mistakes in my life. I have done things I am not proud of. Your grandmother and grandfather have done bad things. However, I regret everything I have done and have done everything in my power to change. Some people can't see through that, unfortunately. But whatever has happened, it isn't your fault, and people shouldn't take it out on you."

Since that incident, Scorpius has become hyper aware of people who judge him because of his last name. He has become accustomed to people occasionally yelling either "blood traitor!" "spineless bastard!" or "muggle killer!". He has learned not to take it personally.

Which it doesn't take him by surprise when in Herbology with Gryffindor, one of the boys working across from Scorpius and Albus leans across the trough they are working on and hisses "I heard about your family."

Scorpius doesn't reply, just rolls his eyes and continues to plant the seeds. They are supposed to pick a random seed, grow it, and attempt to identify it. Scorpius's indifference to this statement doesn't deter the boy, however. Again, he leans over and whispers "I heard your grandfather killed people. Muggles. I wonder if you have the same attitude as Ol' Lucius."

Albus, who to this point has struggled to obtain the right amount of dragon dung to soil and has remained quiet, points his trowel at the Gryffindor and states simply "Shut up."

The boy ignores Albus and continues with "I wonder if you're just as spineless and cowardly like your father. He would just pick whatever side was winning. Pathetic."

In the short time that Albus and Scorpius have become friends, Scorpius realizes that Albus can be quick to anger. What he doesn't know at that moment is that one way to really make Albus angry is to attack the people that he is close to. Scorpius comes to this realization when Albus calmly puts down the trowel, throws his dragon dung and soil mixture on to the boy, jump on him, push him to the ground, and proceed to punch the boy repeatedly in the face. Professor Longbottom rushes over and pulls Albus off of him.

Albus doesn't take this too kindly, and he calls out "I'LL HAVE AT ANYBODY WHO INSULTS MY FREND. ANYBODY! YOU HEAR THAT!" He keeps screaming threats at nobody in particular while struggling to get away from Professor Longbottom. It takes Professor Longbottom to preform the Full Body-Bind on Albus to gain control over him.

Albus and the Gryffindor boy end up in one week's worth of detention, and the families of all three boys are contacted. Draco commends Scorpius on his ability to control his himself and Harry commends Albus on sticking up for his friend. One outcome that neither boy expects is the next day, when the guilty Gryffindor shows up to breakfast with pimples covering his face and all of the professors looking at Albus and Scorpius, they look over and see James winking at them.

\------------------------------------

A week before Christmas break, Albus receives a letter from his father. Harry has a case in which he is required to travel to Russia hunting a faction of blood purists interested in furthering Voldemort's cause. Ginny is staying at her mother's house with Lily while James is going to stay with Charlie. Harry is wanting to know if Albus is interesting in going to his grandmother's or staying at school?

Albus makes a funny face after reading the letter. "None of the options sound good. Either I go to my gran's house and be miserable with eighty million of my family members, or stay here with nobody around. And you know what happens when I'm left to myself. Bad stuff, Scorp, bad stuff."

Scorpius, feeling bad that Albus would be miserable over Christmas, paused for a moment then adds "Maybe you can stay at my house?" Albus lights up at the suggestion.

"Do you think I could? Would your dad let me?"

"I don't see why not. I'll owl and ask him."

Turns out it's okay, and that Draco will promptly pick them up at King's Cross. Albus is ecstatic at the news, excited that he won't have to put up with his family and get to hang out with his best friend _in the whole wide world._ Christmas break is spent learning chess, flying on Draco's old broomsticks, and learning how to play Quidditch. On January 1st, Albus goes with Scorpius and Draco to Astoria's grave, and all three place a purple rose on her grave, which had been her favorite flower.

\----------------------------------------

Christmas breaks ends too fast, and before they knew it, both boys were back at Hogwarts. Scorpius's birthday is spent in Astronomy, though the "official" party happened the next night, in the dorms that the first year Hufflepuffs shared. There were a total of five first year Hufflepuffs: Scorpius, Albus, Colin Finnigan, Brian Buffman, and Jason Grigsby. They celebrated with candy, Exploding Snap, and a couple of things from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Scorpius gets an alchemy kit from his dad, a new chess set from Albus, and a bunch of candy from Colin, Brian, and Jason. It's the first birthday that he celebrates with friends.

Albus is getting marginally better in Potions, Scorpius is getting slightly better in Transfiguration, and both boys give up at the idea of getting any better in History of Magic. This part of the year is marked by hard work, the prank war with James, and exams that both boys struggle in (besides, of course, Defense Against the Dark Arts.)

The end of the school year arrives with both boys swearing to keep in touch, and to visit each other during the summer.

\---------------------------------------

Scorpius mets Draco at Platform 9 3/4 by running up to him and giving him a big hug. Draco laughs and asks "How was school?"

"It was _awesome_! Way better than anything you've said! The food was awesome, classes were pretty good except History of Magic because Professor Binns is so boring but Professor Hatcher, he's my professor for Defense Against the Dark Arts, is really awesome and makes the subject _so interesting_ and in Care for Magical Creatures we saw this ugly crab thing. It was pretty cool." Scorpius smiles.

"I think young Albus Potter might be having a bit of an influence on you." Draco observes. Scorpius looks up at him, puzzled.

When Draco and Astoria first married, they lived at Malfoy Manor. After Scorpius was born, Draco managed to convince Astoria that they needed to find their own place to live. Astoria wasn't happy about it, but understood Draco's point about his parents, and agreed to move into a little two bedroom house outside of London. They didn't (and still don't) live extravagantly, because Draco's job at the Wizengamot Administration Services at the Ministry of Magic doesn't pay well, but pays just enough to live modestly. Scorpius doesn't mind, he has a backyard with a big giant tree that he likes to play in.

Harry Potter might be able to forgive and forget Draco Malfoy, but Ginny doesn't. Scorpius is upset to learn that Ginny doesn't want Scorpius at their house at all. He suddenly remembers what Draco said after being kicked out of his 4th primary school. 

It takes Harry several hours to convince Ginny to allow Albus to Scorpius's house. He makes the point of, he's already been there once and nothing bad happened to him, which Ginny eventually relents. Albus comes over the first week of July. 

"I mean, I don't get what the problem was." Albus complains. "S'not like I don't know you. I've known you for like, a year, and I was at your house for Christmas break. I don't get why she didn't want you over there." Both boys are sitting on a branch in Albus's tree. Scorpius looks down and swings his legs.

"It's because she doesn't like my dad."

"Just because she hates your dad doesn't mean she has to hate you. Why does she hate your dad anyway? He seems like a pretty cool person."

"He is. It's just that he made some not-so-good choices during the War. But he's changed."

"What did he do?" Albus asked, and Scorpius stops and thinks. Scorpius knew his dad wasn't exactly the nicest person, but he never stopped to think about what he did that made him that way. 

"I don't know."

\-------------------------

A couple of days after Albus leaves, an article appears in the Daily Prophet. Olympe Maxime dies of natural causes, and the Daily Prophet dedicates the entire front page to her heroic efforts during the war. The next few pages are dedicated to Death Eaters and what has become of them. An article that takes up the top half of the second page is solely about the Malfoys. The article writes about what Lucius, Narcissa, and Draco did, and the writer is outraged that Draco is allowed to be out into society with no punishment whatsoever, and warns everybody that his child (Scorpius isn't named directly) now attends Hogwarts, and might influence everybody elses children to the blood purity cause.

Scorpius cries after finding out what exactly his dad did during the War, and even more because people think him and his dad are evil. Scorpius knows his dad has expressed regret about what he has done, and that not once during his life time has his dad ever showed any signs of evil, but he still cries. Draco hugs him and tells him that everything will be all right.

Scorpius receives 4 owls that day.

_Scorp,_

_Just saw the article. I think it's total crap. Not once during any of my stays has your dad been evil. Remember how he didn't want to kill that bug and you and me had to take it outside? How does that idiot that wrote the article think your dad can kill someone when he couldn't even kill a bug? If you have any problems, owl me and I will make sure to kick the stuffing out of them._

_Al_

_Scorpius,_

_I just read the story and I am sorry mate. My mum and dad say they went to school with your dad and even fought against him, so they don't like him at all but they don't think you are the same way. Tell me if anybody gives you grief and I'll put a dungbomb in their underwear._

_Colin_

_Dear Scorpius,_

_I just want to owl you and tell you that I don't believe a word of what that article says. Your dad may have done all that stuff but you are a really cool person, and somebody that evil couldn't have raised someone as cool as you. Us Hufflepuffs will stick together._

_Sincerely, Brian_

_Dear Scorpius,_

_Just wanted to let you know that I don't think you are evil in the slightest. The only thing you would be influencing me is that the Caerphilly Catapults are the best Quidditch team, which I know is bullocks since the Catapults SUCK (GO CANNONS!). Anyway, my parents say that you can come over whenever you want._

_Jason_

 

Scorpius smiles, because it's nice to have friends that stick by you


	2. Chapter 2

Albus hit puberty at the beginning of their second year.

It became apparent at the welcoming feast after the sorting. Albus and Colin were in the middle of an argument over who would win in a fight: Merlin or Voldemort. Colin was in the middle of a rather convincing argument for Merlin when Albus pointed out "But Voldemort's got snakes, and everybody knows snakes are badass!"

Well, _squeaked_ would be a more appropriate term.

Scorpius gave Albus a puzzled look. Colin stopped for a second then burst out laughing. Albus glared at his plate then mumbled "It's been happening for a couple days now." 

Over the next two months, Albus shot up like a beanstalk and his voice got progressively deeper. Soon, he was just an inch shy of James and looked exactly like him. Both of them had the same Harry Potter facial features, with untidy black hair and almond shaped eyes. The only difference was Albus had green eyes to James's brown. There had been a few times when Albus and Scorpius were going to class that people would call out to James, only to be embarrassed when Albus turned around. Scorpius also noticed that Albus was also getting more attention from first, second, and even a few third year girls. 

As his voice got deeper and his body got taller, Albus's attitude got worse. He was acting out in class more and snapped at everybody. The only people that seemed to fair better than anybody else were Scorpius and Colin. Even though everybody was friends in the 2nd year Hufflepuff dorm, Colin, Albus, and Scorpius were closer than they were to Brian and Jason. 

Things came to a head when Albus didn't try out for the Hufflepuff Quidditch team. Colin and Scorpius knew that he couldn't sit on a broom right much less fly straight, so they thought it was for the better that he didn't try out for the team. However, they were the only two people that seemed to think that way. When news got around who did make the team, people kept asking Albus _why?_ Each time someone asked him that, Albus's response became worse and ruder. 

Scorpius had suggested to Albus that he not attend Astronomy that night to give him time to cool off. Colin, Scorpius, James, and Brian arrived to find that Albus had destroyed nearly the entire dorm: the curtains of his bed were torn and on the floor, his trunk on its side with all of the contents scattered throughout the room, and the boy who caused the destruction sitting calmly on his bed, with his hands underneath his thighs, with a blank look on his face.

All three boys were terrified of speaking. Finally, Jason quietly spoke "Uh, er, Al, you okay mate?"

Albus just continued to stare blankly ahead. Jason started to move towards the stoic boy, but Colin grabbed Jason by the shoulder. He stopped and turned around questionably, but Colin just shook his head. 

"Hey, Al?" Colin questions "We're going to go downstairs. We'll give you some more time, yah? If you need anything, let us know." With that, the three boys turn around and headed down the stairs

Approximately thirty minutes later, Albus slowly walked down the stairs and plopped next to Scorpius. 

"Sorry about the dorm." He starts, but still looked blankly ahead "I cleaned up it. I didn't mean to take it out like that, but just, I lost control." He says, sobs a little and looks down.

"What happened?" Colin asks

"It's my family!" Albus cries out, and for the first time since they arrived at the dorm, he is wearing an expression on his face; one that of anguish and despair. "And everybody else at this school. They all expect me to be like James and my dad."

Albus then puts his head in his hands, resting his elbows on his thighs. "They always say 'Why can't you be more outgoing like James?' ' Why can't you be brave like your father?'. All of my life I've heard that. I just want people to understand that I don't want to be like my dad. Or like James. I just want to be left alone."

"I guess somehow my family found out that I didn't try out for Quidditch. I've gotten _scores_ of letters from my family asking me _why not?_ I guess that the fact that I can't sit on a broom without messing up just somehow escaped their notice. I just want to be me."

Albus's outburst of anger this school year and last suddenly make sense: he was rebelling against the preconceived notion of how he should act simply because his father was Harry Potter. Scorpius can sort of relate, because people think he's evil simply because of his family.

\-------------------------------

Apparently there is a difference between wolfsbane _root_ and wolfsbane _stem_. Scorpius doesn't know if it was a misread on Albus's part or if he truly doesn't know the difference, because whatever the difference wolfsbane stem was added to their cauldron, and the results were simply spectacular. The cauldron exploded, swelling everything the clumpy liquid touched. Professor Hepclaw, once he cleaned up the mess with a wave of his wand, sent all of his students to Madam Pomfrey. One by one, Madam Pomfrey de-swelled the students and sent them back to class. Scorpius was one of the last students to leave.

He was halfway back to Potions class when suddenly he was pushed against the wall, smacking his head and causing stars to appear before him. When his vision cleared, he saw a tall, dark skinned boy glaring down at him.

"Oi, Malfoy." He spit out, pointing a finger into Scorpius's chest. "I really should kill you right about now. You know your family got my dad locked up in Azkaban?" The tall boy grabbed Scorpius by the collar, swung him around, and shoved him to the other side of the hallway.

"I don't even know who you are!" Scorpius cried out

"This is for my father." The boy simply stated, and with that, swung a punch at Scorpius and landed it on his cheekbone. The boy kept throwing punches, kept kicking him, and Scorpius thought he was going to die right there in that hallway, until--

"Hey, Zabini!" A female voice called out. She was about 5'4, with shoulder length brown hair and brown eyes "Leave him alone!"

The boy stopped his attack, but kept a firm grip on Scorpius's robe. "Yah, and what are you going to do about it?"

"Is that what you're about? Beating on people who clearly can't defend themselves? You're rather pathetic."

"Shut your mouth, mudblood lover, or I'll shut it for you!" The boy threatened. The girl didn't even blink.

"You forget I know where you sleep. So you probably should watch your tongue, before it gets cut out."

Zabini then released Scorpius's robe and glared "You're lucky that bitch showed up."

The girl walks over, holds her hand to Scorpius and states "Amelia Goyle."

\---------------------

Amelia Goyle turns out to be a pretty decent person, and being a mediocre student. She's a second year and doesn't matter to her if someone is muggle-born or if the person has no familial relations with muggles. She is really good in History of Magic, but absolutely horrible at Charms. When they can, they meet outside or in one of their common rooms. Mostly, Amelia meets them in the Hufflepuff common room, because Albus and Scorpius don't feel real comfortable going to the Slytherin common room. 

In all, for a Slytherin, she's not so bad. 

"How did you get into Slytherin?" Albus asks, hanging off of the sofa upside down when they're supposed to be working on their Potions homework.

"Easy." Amelia responded while writing on her parchment "They put a hat on my head and it yelled 'SLYTHERIN'!"

"Ha." Albus retorted "I mean, Slytherins are supposed to be, like, I don't know, mean. And you don't seem mean."

"I'm not mean to you, but I am to people I don't like. Like Zabini. Or Creevey." Albus huffed at this, and rolled his eyes.

"You know what I mean. How come you don't believe in like, not marrying muggles and stuff like that?"

Amelia slowly put down her quill, and stared at her parchment. "You know, growing up I never knew my mother. Every time I would ask if I had a mom, my dad would say 'Don't you worry about that. You've got me' and for a while that was okay. But the summer before I came here, my grandma and a couple of cousins, like three times removed or something came over."

She continued "I was playing in my room and went downstairs to get something to eat. Before I got there, I heard them talking in the kitchen about hating muggles and how the Ministry is catering to the muggles, you know, the usual. Then I hear one of my cousins say 'Muggles can be good at times. You know, to play with and stuff. I got some of great grandfather's instruments that he used on Muggles.' and everybody started laughing. Then my grandma says 'But you have to be careful when you play with them. Gregory played with one, only the bitch ended up pregnant.' Then my cousin goes 'Yah, but you took care of her once she birthed, right?' and grandma says 'You know we did.'"

Amelia, at this point, put her head in her hands. She began to sob "It was...I saw everything in a whole new light. I thought my dad was this great man. I was always kind of scared of my grandma, but I never knew she could do something like that. They killed her, they killed my mom. For how she was born. I was robbed of my mother because they didn't like how she was born. I just...I couldn't get behind the movement after that."

Albus and Scorpius were silent. They didn't know what to say. How could someone do that to a human being? At that moment, their eyes were starting to become open to just how sick and depraved someone can be.

"Were you...did you used to be like them? Like your family?" Scorpius asked quietly.

"Yeah." Amelia sighed. "I used to hate muggles. But you know, people can change."

\---------------------

The rest of the semester passed in a blur of homework and the everlasting prank war with James. Before anyone knew it, Christmas break had come and Albus, Scorpius, and Amelia left for the holidays.

Scorpius ran up to Draco and gave him a big hug. Once they pulled apart, Draco knelt down to Scorpius, putting one hand on his shoulder.

"Son, before we get home, there's something I have to tell you." Draco stated. Scorpius looked up, worried. Whatever it was, it couldn't possibly be good.

"I met someone while you were at Hogwarts. She's really nice. Her name is Dahlia. She's going to be spending Christmas with us."

Scorpius pondered that for a moment. "Is she your girlfriend?" He asked.

Draco ruffled Scorpius's hair. "Yes, she is. I hope you like her."

Dahlia, it turns out, works with Draco at the Ministry. She's just under 5'4, with long black hair that reaches to the middle of her back and with kind, blue eyes. She doesn't try to boss him around, and she makes him his favorite food: spaghetti. They spend the afternoon baking and playing wizard board games. Draco can't stop smiling, and everything is so perfect that it makes Scorpius want to vomit.

It's not like Scorpius doesn't want his dad happy. Before first year, he was nervous that Draco would get lonely. He always worried about his dad, sitting in the flat by himself. She seems to make Draco happy, but Scorpius can't help but hate her. For his entire life, it's just been him and his dad, and now this _girl_ comes into their lives and is going to take HIS dad away from him. It's not fair, so Scorpius throws a figurine that Draco gave him for his 5th birthday at the wall, shattering it.

Ha, Scorpius thinks, that'll teach him.

He spends the next day in his room, claiming that he doesn't feel well and refusing to come out. Dahlia makes his soup, and tells him to stay in bed all day. Scorpius writes to Albus and Amelia about the current problem in his life.

The first reply he gets is from Albus. 

_Scorp--_

_I wouldn't worry about it, mate. They'll probably won't work out and then it'll be just you and your dad again._

The next is from Amelia, and it's so very Slytherin and so very Amelia that it makes him laugh, and cheers him up.

_Dearest Scorpius,_

_I am very sorry to hear about your current predicament. It sounds very horrendous, having such a nice person in the house. I would suggest a potion. I have a few that are colorless and tastless that would do the trick. Do owl back and let me know._

He can just see Amelia rolling her eyes and saying 'You Idiot', the capital letters evident in her speech. He makes an effort to be nice to Dahlia when they are speaking, but he doesn't seek her out. His dad and he still go to Astoria's grave, and Scorpius is relieved when the world doesn't end simply because his dad found a new girlfriend.

What does change, though, is that Scorpius then hits puberty.

His voice changes, and he starts finding his underwear sticky in the morning. He hates it, is embarrassed, and thinks, no wonder Al was so angry when he first went through it. 

He gets a little bit of an attitude, sniping at Dahlia whenever he feels she's being irritating. Then when Draco steps in, Scorpius just glares and stomps off to his room. He distantly thinks, _it's the testosterone that's making me angry_ , but that still can't calm him down. He's not as angry as Albus, but it's a marked change.

\----------------------------

Scorpius arrives back at Hogwarts with a deeper voice that is still cracking. He is usually quiet, only speaking when he feels he has something relevant to say, but now he stays quiet. He is too afraid to speak, afraid of people making fun of him because he sounds weird. It isn't until a couple days later when Albus slaps him on the back and says 'We're starting to get a little bit worried about you' does he explain, and Albus just laughs and says 'We all go through it, don't worry about it'

Scorpius had expected to shoot up in inches like Albus did, but only finds he gains 2-3 inches at the most. It's right around the time his voice starts cracking does he make what he eventually terms The Life Altering Discovery.

Oliver Price is the Hufflepuff Quidditch captain. He also has a big ego, and has taking to strutting around the common room, especially after a match, regardless if they won or not. It's after such match, when him, Albus, and Amelia are working on homework, that Oliver is walking around the common room without a shirt. 

Oliver is toned, finding time to work out every day, believing that one day he'll be the next Viktor Krum. Scorpius looks up from his homework and thinks _he's gorgeous_ and stops. 

He slowly starts to panic on the inside. He had no idea where that came from, and every time he looked over at shirtless Oliver, he started to get a butterfly feeling in his stomach and began to get hard. He squeaks out something like 'I must get to the bathroom!' and runs upstairs, locking himself in the bathroom. He sits and thinks _It's just a fluke. It's just cause I hit puberty. I'll start liking girls and forget about Oliver._

\---------------------------

He never does start liking girls, and it takes several weeks for him to come to the conclusion that he's gay without having a silent panic attack. He spends the rest of the semester having a full blown crush on Oliver. He knows that he doesn't stand a chance, knows that Oliver has a girlfriend and never dated a guy, but Scorpius still dreams about licking Oliver all over. 

The end of the year rolls around, and Scorpius is not as angry as he thought he would be seeing Dahlia waiting with his dad at Platform 9 3/4. He thinks about telling his dad about his new found sexuality, but holds back. He doesn't know how his dad will react to it, and truth be told, doesn't feel quite as close to his dad as he used to.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kiiiinda short. Sorry =\

Third year is when Albus and Scorpius find out how conniving Amelia can be.

Over the summer, she hit puberty, and grew curves. She also grew her hair long and started wearing makeup. Both boys found it hilarious how one flick of her hair, with a hand on her hip, and one smile can get a guy to do anything she wanted. Amelia can get any boy to do her homework or to get her whatever she wants. She never tries it on Albus or Scorpius, because they are her friends, and she holds her friends in higher regard than that.

Amelia Goyle will do _anything_ to protect her friends.

It all started over the summer. A new faction of Death Eaters, the same that Harry had chased in Russia two years previous, was gaining more and more influence throughout Russia and the adjoining countries. The number of attacks on muggle and muggle-born wizards was on the rise. However, in the United Kingdom, a few copycats here and there were popping up. Over the summer, one of them found Albus and James, who were at a shopping mall in Godric's Hollow, and beat them up pretty good. 

Nobody was arrested for the crime, but word got around that the Flint family was behind the attack. It just so happens that Moran Flint, son of Marcus Flint, is a 5th year Slytherin.

Amelia and Scorpius heard the horrifying tale late one night above the Astronomy Tower. Albus was laying down, using Amelia's legs as pillows and Scorpius sat next to her, too stunned to say anything. Albus sobbed, saying that he was so afraid of what Moran would do if they ever accidentally met up. Amelia carded her fingers through Albus's hair whispering _it's okay, shh, I'll protect you. I promise it_.

Two days later found the three of them in the Great Hall for breakfast, when suddenly a scream pierced throughout the room. Everybody looked around to find the source of the scream, and it was quickly centered on Moran Flint, who was on the ground in the fetal position. 

All of the professors ran over, and one of them yelled "Get Madam Pomfrey!" and another rolled him over. Scorpius, still at the Hufflepuff table, caught a glimpse of Moran. He was lying on his back, and there was red all around him. It took a bit to realize that it was blood. His skin was colored black and blue, like a giant bruise. And he was screaming, Merlin he was screaming.

"I'm dying!" Moran wailed "I'm dying, oh god I'm dying!" 

Amelia finished eating her blueberry muffin as if nothing was happening. When she was finished, she dabbed her lips with a napkin and walked over to Albus and Scorpius. She framed Albus's face in her hands, kissed his forehead and whispered _him and his family won't bother you again_. 

Moran was transferred to St. Mungo's and stayed there for three weeks. The healers were stumped. The only thing they could figure out was that it was some type of poison, but the source was never located and they couldn't figure out who poisoned him or how.

For the first time, Albus and Scorpius saw Amelia for what she truly was. A tried and true friend, that would protect the people she loved to the death. 

Amelia only admitted to the incident several years later, but that's another story for another time

\----------------------------------

Albus grew a little bit taller and a lot tanner over the summer. Last year, he wanted nothing to do with the opposite sex. Now, he couldn't get enough of them. Every week Scorpius was always inadvertently stumbling across Albus lip-locking with a different girl in different alcoves and different places throughout the grounds. At first, Scorpius was mortified, but it happened so often that it didn't faze him anymore.

What did faze him came a week before Halloween. Scorpius was headed outside to meet Amelia. It was a nice day out, and he needed help with an Arithmancy essay. He was in the main hall, right in front of the doors when a scuffle type noise, a grunt, and a groan startled him. He looked around, and several pillars away from the main castle door, Scorpius saw a foot sticking out. 

Concerned that maybe the person was hurt, Scorpius rushed over. He came up to the pillar and realized it was not one person, but two.

"Oh fuck!" one of the people said, and the boy leaning against the wall pushed the boy that crowding him against the wall away. The boy that was doing the crowding was Albus.

It took several seconds to process all of the information at once. That it was two boys, and one of them was Albus. He stood there, stunned. Albus was speaking to him, but none of it was filtering through to his brain.

"Uh." Scorpius interrupted "Uh, I am going to go, there, and, not here. So. Yeah. I will. See you in the dorm." With that, he ran outside.

Albus didn't follow, and Scorpius had a hard time explaining to Amelia why he was blushing and couldn't concentrate on his essay.

\-------------------

Scorpius treated it like any other time he caught Al snogging someone. He laughed and slapped him on the shoulder and said _you really need to learn how to not get caught_. But sometimes, sometimes when he was in bed, he would think back to when he caught him behind that pillar. Sometimes he would dream about the other person being him.

Scorpius never got around to telling Al that he was gay. Hell, he never got around to telling anybody. Partially, because he was scared, and partially because there was never really a good time to tell anybody. He didn't want to tell Al now because he was afraid Al might think he was trying to kiss him or that he was trying to one-up the situation. It was a stupid fear, and many times Scorpius berated himself at night over it. Al was his best friend, Al deserved to know. So Scorpius decided, sometime tomorrow I will tell Al.

The best chance he got came during Transfiguration class. They were trying to transfigure a teapot to a tortoise. Al had one elbow on the desk and his chin resting on his hand, lazily waving around his wand like he was bored.

Scorpius reached out and grabbed the hand, stilling the movement. "You're doing it wrong, and if you blow up my teapot I'll hurt you."

Al just rolled his eyes "It's just a teapot. You can transfigure any teapot you want. What's special about this one?"

"How do you know that I haven't already bonded with it? That I haven't named it and picked out rocks and such for its habitat?"

"Oh yeah?" Al retorted. "What's its name?"

"I haven't named it yet. But whatever I'm going to name it, you will be sorry you killed it."

"That makes no sense!" Al cried out, throwing his arms in the air dramatically. Both boys laughed, but a glare from Professor Bell silenced them both.

"So, uh, Al. I have something to tell you." Scorpius started slowly, with his voice lowered.

"What's that?" 

"Well, you know how I caught you snogging that boy one day and you got all embarrassed?" Scorpius asked, and Al looked a little wary.

"Yeah. What of it?"

"And you worried that I thought you were gross? Well, uhm, I don't. Cuz I, uh, well, I kind of like boys too." Scorpius said, looking down at his desk. Al didn't say anything for a little bit, and that got Scorpius kind of worried.

"Oh? Oh. Oh! Okay. So, like you're gay?"

"Something like that." Scorpius muttered.

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with it. I mean, you caught me snogging a boy. It would be a little hypocritical if I thought you were gross, yah?" Al replied.

Later, when he told Amelia in the Hufflepuff common room while working on Arithmancy homework, she replied "Ok. What did you get for number three? For the life of me I can't predict with these numbers. They seem off."

Like it was no big deal, and it really shouldn't be, thought Scorpius. 

\------------------

That Christmas is the first time that Al runs away from home. He shows up on Scorpius's doorstep the day after everyone left Hogwarts for the holidays, with a scowl on his face. Draco and Dahlia went out for the night, so the boys were left alone.

Al found his way to Draco's well worn brown couch, laying down, curled on his side with his arms crossed.

"What's wrong mate?" Scorpius asks, sitting down next to Al's feet.

"I don't want to be home right now."

"Why not?"

"Dad's gone to some conference in Albania." Al replies, turning onto his other side "Some Auror thing. He left a couple days before we came back, so in the house it's just me, Lily, James, and Mum. We're supposed to go to Gran's house for the holidays, so Mum is making us do all these chores. While we're doing all this cleaning, she starts lecturing me about school. How she's gotten all these letters from our professors saying how much I'm acting out in class, how rude and disrespectful I am."

He continues, sitting up "So she starts saying stuff like, _I don't understand why you are being so difficult_ and _you've got to clean up your act_. So then she says, _it really shouldn't surprise me, with the disreputable company you've surrounded yourself with._ I ask her, what the blazes are you talking about? And she says _I never thought I would have to hear about the Malfoys and Goyles in my entire life again._ "

Scorpius sat still, not believing his ears. What did she mean by that? Scorpius didn't think he was that bad, and maybe Al was a little crazy at school, but him and Amelia being bad company? Amelia, maybe. She could be a Slytherin as much as the rest of her house, but she had noble values, and she used her unorthodox means to help her achieve those ends. Scorpius may be quiet and afraid to stand up for himself, but he was no Death Eater, for Merlin's sake. Both of them may not be the best people to pick for friends, but the three of them worked.

"Fuck her, you know?" Al states furiously "So I left. She can't talk about my friends like that. You guys are not that bad. And you guys are my friends, and she can't choose my friends for me. Both of you haven't done anything wrong. Well, you could say Amelia has, but if she did do something to that Flint kid, he deserved it. Sometimes I just really, really, _really_ hate my mom."

Scorpius didn't say anything to that, just put his arm around Al's shoulders. They spent the rest of the time until Draco and Dahlia got home like that.

\-------------------------------

Harry and Ginny came over the next day to collect Al. Al spent the next fifteen minutes kicking, throwing things, and screaming _I don't want to go! I hate you both! Let me go! LET. ME. GO!_ over and over again until his parents relented that Al could come stay at the Malfoy house for the entire week before they went off to Hogwarts. Al had to stay over at the Wesley family's house for the whole time before that, without causing any problems whatsoever. Al readily agreed, and that final week was spent with Draco teaching both boys how to fly properly on a broom, and Dahlia taking pictures and laughing of their "epic fails". It was the best Christmas break Scorpius had spent in a long, long time and thought that Dahlia wasn't so bad after all.

Al gets his first girlfriend three weeks after they get back to Hogwarts. Her name is Susan, and she's a third year Ravenclaw. She has blonde hair, blue eyes, and a shy smile. She is incredibly smart and is one of the sweetest people Scorpius has met thus far.

Amelia immediately hates her.

"Nobody can be that happy and quiet all the time." She explains one night, waving her left hand in the air in a dismissive manner. "There's something wrong with that girl, Al, I'm telling you." Al flips her off, and tells her to mind her own business.

They break up three weeks later because Susan wasn't happy "with the way their relationship was going." Al responded by getting another girlfriend a couple days later, and so on and so forth. Each girlfriend Al gets, Amelia hates.

Al's first real relationship, the first people he actually cares about is another Ravenclaw, this time a fourth year boy named Sam. Sam is tall, taller than James at 6' feet. He has brown hair with brown eyes, a nice heart shaped face. Scorpius and Amelia first meet Sam one night during one of their homework sessions. Before Al goes out to bring Sam back into the Hufflepuff common room, he begs Amelia:

"Please, please, _please_ don't scare him Amelia." Al pleads "I really like this guy and I want you guys to like him too. Please don't be _too_ mean to him." Amelia narrows her eyes and purses her lips.

"If you insist." Amelia replies.

Al brings Sam back and sits him next to Scorpius on the floor, with Amelia sitting sideways in an armchair. The homework session goes smoothly, with Amelia trying to be nice (but instead talks with an air of indifference) and Scorpius not really talking at all. Al runs out of ink, and runs up to his dorm room to get a refill. While he is upstairs, Amelia gets up from her perch and sits down next to Al.

"What you need to understand," Amelia starts "is that Al is my friend. One of my _best_ friends. The only reason why I'm being civil to you is because he begged me. He likes you. A lot. If you do anything to hurt him, you will feel the consequences." 

"Is that a threat?" Sam asks.

"No, sweetie. It's a promise." Amelia responds. Al comes back down with his refill of ink, and the four of them finish their homework. Amelia smiles a bit more and is a bit more friendly, and Scorpius still doesn't really talk. 

Al spends an extraordinarily amount of time with Sam. Scorpius is mad and bitter about it, because now Al's free time is spend with Sam. He doesn't want it to affect his relationship with Al, so he just smiles and pretends to be happy for Al. 

By the end of the semester, Al is still with Sam, Amelia still isn't overly friendly with Sam, and Scorpius is still quietly jealous.


End file.
